No, I keep posting hoping at some point you actually flesh out your team building position. Everything you advocate is about attaining a high pick. Its the goal in and of itself. I've seen little, if any, plan beyond that.
What are the holes in the current team/organization that need filling? Lets hear what we need besides an abstract top pick.
You don't have to fill all these holes. Even cup winners have holes. They just have enough things working all at once to win it.
We lack a respectable top line center as yet. Hodgson may step into that void, but if he tops out around 60 points and average defensively, I see that as a position of weakness. That outcome would not surprise me. Grigorenko has enough skill to get there, but I don't see the grit and his play away from the puck is sloppy. I'm doubtful that he's going to turn that all around, I see him as being a Derek-Roy like guy. Girgensons has the heart of a lion but lacks the high end skill. I see three guys who could, together, fight for the 2-3 C slots and make that a real strength. Larsson certainly could fill that shutdown role as well. But I don't know which of them I would trust to carry a contender's top line. And here's the rub: the more you lack a top scoring line, the more each other line feels pressure to play outside themselves to create that scoring.
We lack scoring wingers. Armia may make it, but it wouldn't surprise me if Armia turned into Stafford, basically. Behind him we have Ennis, who I suspect will eventually go back to wing and be a 60 point man throughout his prime. Moreover, by the time Armia is a threat, Vanek will likely be less of one. I'd love to be able to swing one top pick for a top line winger, which I think is a pretty reliable position to predict at age 18 - moreso than any other, at least. I thin we probably need two more top 6 wingers in the organization, and one for the top line.
Our D was a horrid mess last year. The potential guys are all there, we're just waiting to see if any of them can do it. We have two guys, Ehrhoff and Myers, who will be with the team for a good long time, but I wouldn't call either of them top pairing Dmen on a contender based on last year's performance. I'm hoping Myers turns it around. Someone needs to assume that role, and the best candidates I see right now are Z and R. They're a few years off. Generally, I think our D foundation is solid, though, just too young to assume they're that close. If one of Myers, R or Z turns into a fringe Norris candidate, that wouldn't surprise me. It's just a matter of how many of them turn out, and whether we can pencil in Myers, R, Z and Ehrhoff as an effective top 4. I wouldn't be scared to add more D prospects.
I think our goaltending will be fine if we build a good enough team in front of these guys. Decent goaltenders can be bought, even if none of our three big young guys shakes out into an Osgood - dependable in the big moments, if never stellar. I think Enroth has a better chance of getting there than many on this board.
In sum, I think our forward prospects lack high end skill. With no other big prospects on board, I see us perhaps as a top 10 team in the league defensively in a few years, but a merely average one offensively. A good foundation for a 5-6th seed.
I think that we should target the prime years of the kids we're developing now and try to load up on as many other pieces as we can that might turn into elite offense in that same window. Miller and Vanek don't hurt the team, but they don't help it very much in 5 years, especially when I suspect you're going to be able to get their equivalents for nothing via FA in 5 years. I would move Miller and Vanek for the best picks you can get and target a 1 year, 2 year tank tops, try to get a guy like Nylander with the 3rd-4th pick to shore up your wingers. McDavid isn't someone you target as a make or break, but I think a top 5 pick towards a C and another towards a RW in the next two years would set you up pretty well, with our D pool being pretty deep, to be a contender.
Of course, none of my hypothetical guys are guaranteed, so don't even try that line with me again. None of current our guys are guaranteed either.